Ernesto Valverde has revealed that he is relishing Athletic Bilbao’s ‘historic’ Basque derby against Eibar in La Liga on Sunday.
The two sides have yet to meet in the Spanish top flight, making this afternoon’s encounter at Ipurua extra-special for Los Leones’ Coach, who also made his frustrations known about his team having two days less to prepare for their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Espanyol.
“[This match] provides a huge opportunity for the winner. In a derby, differences don’t exist,” he began at a Press conference.
“We’re both tied on points in the table and these are the games in which you play at a higher intensity.
“Perhaps it won’t be very open but it should still be attractive because it will be historic for the two teams.
“Eibar’s first half to the season was spectacular. Now, you could say they’re not doing so well, but no-one said at the start of the season that they’d be where they are now.
“They were one of the great revelations of the season in addition to the results by how they are competing. We expect them to be difficult opponents.
“The fixtures [have been arranged] so tightly together. Espanyol played against Cordoba in La Liga [on Friday] and have two extra days off than us.
“There’s a significant quantitative and qualitative difference. It’s a problem for us in comparison with Espanyol.”
